House via Triangle Modernist Houses
Is two a trend? In Malibu's most recent Carbon Beach access battle, a nonprofit group has switched sides in exchange for cash--just like the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy did with U2 guitarist The Edge's plans for a cliffside Malibu development. This time, Lisette Ackerberg, who lives in a Richard Meier house on Carbon Beach, has been fighting a 10 foot wide easement on her property that would provide public access to the beach. The requirement for a public walkway dates to the 1980s, according to the Coastal Commission (the house was built in 1986), but the group finally tried to open it up in 2003, reports the AP. The nonprofit group Access for All was supposed to build and manage the path, but they waited two years before going in and finding "a concrete slab, generator, light posts, a 9-foot-high wall and other development."
The Coastal Commission tried to have the stuff removed, a legal battle ensued, and then Access for All did this:
agreed to file a lawsuit funded by the homeowner seeking to open another proposed, county-owned pathway in exchange for the one required on the Ackerberg property. The family would pay $125,000 to the nonprofit to maintain the new pathway and another $125,000 to the commission, money that could go to Access for All if the state agency refused it. (The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy only agreed to take a neutral position on The Edge's project, for four times as much money.) Now a judge has just ruled that the public is entitled to both the county-owned pathway and the Ackerberg one. According to the LA Times, the CCC is expected to take Ackerberg pathway control back from Access for All next week.
· Malibu resident told to open access [AP]
· Judge orders Malibu homeowner to clear pathway to beach [LAT]
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